Hammers to appeal to CAS over Tevez ruling

LONDON // The Premier League club West Ham United will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after being ordered to pay compensation to Sheffield United over the "Carlos Tevez affair". An English Football Association (FA) arbitration panel ruled in favour of the Championship club on Tuesday after they argued that Tevez, now with Manchester United, was ineligible to play for West Ham at the end of the 2006-2007 season.

Tevez was one of West Ham's most influential players as they put together a storming finish to the season to escape relegation and send United down on the final day. "West Ham can confirm today that our lawyers are drafting a statement of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in relation to the case involving the club and Sheffield United," the club said in a statement yesterday.

"We can confirm that we respect the judgement of the FA arbitration panel but we do not accept that one player's contribution can be placed over that of the team as a whole nor used a basis for judging the results of a 38-game season." The Yorkshire club appealed to the League claiming that Tevez, and his fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano were ineligible to play for West Ham under league rules regarding third-party ownership.

West Ham were subsequently fined a record £5.5 million (Dh37.6m) in April last year for fielding the players during the season but escaped a points deduction that would have almost certainly relegated them. Tevez was cleared to play for the remainder of the season after West Ham said they had torn up the third-party agreement with the player's adviser Kia Joorabchian. He scored the winner against Manchester United on the final day of the season.

Sheffield United estimated that relegation from the Premier League had cost them at least £50m. Tuesday's FA arbitration panel ruling did not say how much West Ham would have to pay in compensation, although a figure of £30 million pounds was widely reported. Sheffield United pursued a financial settlement after their initial appeal to be reinstated to the Premier League at the end of the 2006-2007 season was rejected.

*Reuters